IPL 6: RCB vs SRH - The Quick Flicks

Yet another batting collapse

Sun Risers Hyderabad seemed to have become used to suffering a top order batting failure as Parthiv Patel, Kumar Sangakarra and Akshath Reddy were back in the pavilion quickly, after RCB opted to come out with five specialist bowlers, with R.P. Singh making his debut for the Mallya-owned franchise. R.P Singh, Muthiah Muralitharan and Murali Kartik shared a wicket apiece.

Perera goes mad

Thisara Perera was in no mood for any compromises today as he started in his astute style, calling the shots early on in the innings. He came in to the crease in the eleventh over and hit the Bangalore bowlers all over the park, blazing away to 40 runs off 24 balls, including four towering sixes off almost all the leading bowlers.

Oh no! Vinay again!

Vinay Kumar didn’t look to have recovered from the bruises of the Super Over on Sunday as he started bowling full tosses and short balls once he saw Cameron White and Perera playing in the middle. There were those above-hip no-balls and dead slow balls that set White on fire. White eventually fell to Vinay Kumar, holing out to AB de Villiers in the deep.

RP in with a bang

R.P. Singh, one of the successful bowlers as far as IPL is concerned, was on the money right away, consuming Akshath Reddy in his second over. Then, when Perera was threatening to take the game away from RCB, RP came in in the 18^th over and had the measure of the Sri Lankan’s stumps, thus arresting the flow of runs towards the end. Maybe Vinay could find relief as RP might bowl in the next Super Over!

No Hanuman show this time

Little known Hanuma Vihari, who dismissed Gayle cheaply last time, was introduced as early as the first over this time, but received a cold reception from Mayank Agarwal, as the latter thwacked him for a six and boundary, thus spoiling Sangakarra’s tactical move. Gayle though, didn’t make much with the bat again, as he departed for 13 runs after nicking one off Ishant Sharma into the hands of Parthiv Patel.

The Orange Cap

Gayle, after making 13 runs, moved on to the top of table, piping David Warner for the Orange Cap. Danny Morrison came out from the commentary box to hand over the cap to Gayle. The cap didn’t last with the Jamaican even for a few minutes, as Kohli overtook him in the same over, smashing the clueless Hyderabad bowlers.

Kohli Kamaal all the way

It was yesterday, at a press conference, when Venkatesh Prasad told the media that RCB is not only entirely dependent on Gayle, and has the likes of Virat Kohli and de Villiers in its ranks. And when Gayle failed today, Kohli took over the responsibility and played the captain’s knock under pressure. First, he looked comfortable, with the ones and twos and the rare boundaries. Once the dangerous Dale Steyn finished his spell, Kohli was almost unstoppable, as he dispatched everything that came his way, and Amit Mishra and Perera were easy targets for Kohli.